Promoting n-Butane Dehydrogenation over PtMn/SiO2 through Structural Evolution Induced by a Reverse Water-Gas Shift Reaction

Structural evolution of heterogeneous catalysts often occurs during catalytic reactions. In this contribution, the structural evolution of a PtMn/SiO2 catalyst during the reverse water-gas shift (RWGS) reaction was investigated using detailed spectroscopic characterizations. The results show that Mn atoms on the PtMn nanoparticle surface were partially removed during the RWGS reaction, which increases the ratio of Pt sites with a lower coordination number on the surface, leading to a 10-fold increase of the rate in n-C4H10 dehydrogenation from 1.85 to 21.93 mol gPt–1 h–1 and a decrease of the apparent activation energy from 50 to 33 kJ mol–1. This work provides a dimension of improving the catalytic performance of alkane dehydrogenation over Pt-based bimetallic catalysts through structural evolution during CO2 hydrogenation.